


A Crimson Round

by VoiceActress



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Falling In Love, First Meetings, Friendship/Love, Nerdiness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-09-28 17:26:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20429696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VoiceActress/pseuds/VoiceActress
Summary: Edelgard Hresvelg no longer knows what to do with her life. As a child she always loved to read and write stories, but recently she can no longer find the motivation to do the things she used to enjoy. Weighted down by the burdens and responsibilities of a young college student, she makes an unlikely friend on the first day of her sophomore year.





	1. Bloom

Edelgard slumps into a lecture hall chair, her backpack falling like a sack of bricks onto the carpeted lecture hall floor. She leans back into her chair, weary from climbing up the stairs and a poor night’s sleep and stares at the ceiling momentarily to collect herself. Though a few others had arrived in the hall before her, she was still among the first. The lecture hall remained silent as students flicked through their phones, which suited Edelgard just fine. Quietly, she unzips her bag and begins pulling out various things for her desk.  


Edelgard always kept her pens and notebooks together, and only ever uses a specific one for certain notebooks. She pulls out one of the larger ones, her dedicated classroom notebook, and lays it flat onto the desk attached to her chair. Sifting through her bag some more, she then pulls out her collection of smaller notebooks. They came in a wide assortment of different colors, some dark with an earth tone, others brighter in shades of purple, blue, and red. Opening another smaller compartment of her bag, she pulls out two pens, one in black, and the other in blue, setting them parallel to her notebooks. She always did this, regardless of the class or mood she had.  


Her eyes drift downward to her many assorted notebooks, and opens one of the smaller ones, more like a memo. She closes it just as fast as she opens it, briefly skimming through the page she had marked only yesterday to remind herself of her tasks for today. The notebook only filled her with a sense of frustration, anxiety, and dread, over her growing responsibilities as an adult that had to take care of herself. Still, she always wrote in it to keep her internal calendar in check, no matter how much it bothered her.  


Setting her memo aside she reaches for another one of her notebooks, but then realizes she had taken out the wrong emote. However, her hand freezes as she recognizes the faded, red hue of this particular one. She hadn’t opened it for years, and she hesitates to open it again as her pulse quickens. Slowly her hand reaches out and takes the weathered notebook from the spine and sets it in front of her. The notebook hadn’t changed in all the years she’s had it, but it has suffered some dents due to various clutter in her bag. Mustering the courage, she begins to turn the pages.  


Drawings and sketches from a decade ago appear, each of them bringing vague memories of Edelgard’s childhood. A childlike doodle here, and a few paragraphs of a long forgotten story here. Original characters, sketched out hastily before they could be forgotten, dot each page as the young Edelgard’s imagination went wild. They came in a variety of different ink colors, different characters deserving their own unique pen and shade. She had pushed many of these into the far recesses of her mind over the years due to the embarrassment she had for some of them, but still she kept turning the page, growing more and more nostalgic as she relived the early years of her creative mind. She remembered the days when she could create characters on a whim, and each character would then get their own sketch and entry inside this favorite notebook of hers.  


She had forgotten that feeling, that desire to create, amidst the sea of emotions she had to wade through now. She found neither the time nor the motivation to do the things she once loved, and it bothered her more and more with each passing day. She knew that continued inactivity would only exacerbate the cycle, yet her brain wouldn’t allow her to do the things she once could with ease. She felt stagnant, and her displeasure with her own self continued.  


Turning another page, she notices that the younger Edelgard had folded the very top of the underlying page. Her mind connected the dots, the crimson notebook, and the specific folded page, and her heart began to race even faster. Carefully, without tearing the old pages out, she turns, and recognizes the red ink that she had once loved. The young Edelgard had filled these pages with copiously long, winding paragraphs. The words described everything about the character, her motivations, her backstory, her relationships, and her goals. From the fact that she came from a small, upstart nation of peasantry, to the sweets she loved above all else, the young Edelgard put fierce passion and love into her work. The elder Edelgard could not comprehend the feelings that flowed through her. Was it nostalgia, or was it disdain? Was it shame, or was it pride? Was it frustration, or was it sadness? Edelgard’s hand slides across the notebook again, reaching to close it. However, as she does so, her eyes glide across the top of the page where the name of the forgotten character lies. She had longed to forget about her, but now that name would embed itself into her again. “Flame Emperor.”  


She closes the notebook with force, tossing it into her bag in a manner much more forceful than she normally would. The name still etched into her memory, Edelgard calms herself down and attempts to once again push it to the far edges of her mind. The doors to the lecture hall now begin to open and close at a quicker rate as more students arrive. Most of them wore sweaters, some still wore summer tops, but one person ended up catching her eye due to the sheer ridiculousness of her attire and fashion choice.  


The woman had blue hair that extends just beyond her shoulders, but it looked messy and knotted, as if she neglected to put any care. A blue bucket hat adorns her head with fish decorations on top. Her black jacket looks unremarkable but she wears it more akin to a mantle, leaving her arms bare and her sleeves flapping behind her as she walked. Her jeans seem the only sane part of her ridiculous getup, but her choice of shirt brought Edelgard to the brink. The woman wore a plain white tee, but large, bold letters spell out MILF across her chest.  


Edelgard wanted to laugh, she really did, but she once again composes herself. The girl continues to walk, her silly sleeves flapping about, and ends up sitting in a seat close to Edelgard. Mentally smiling still, she decides to speak to the stranger. “Um... excuse me… you do know what your shirt means right?”  


The woman grins. “Whatever do you mean?”  


“Your shirt…” Edelgard says, holding back a snicker with all her motivation. “Doesn’t it say MILF?”  


“Of course it does.” She replies nonchalantly, but her bright smile betrays her feigned ignorance.  


“Do you not know what it means?”  


“Does it not mean this?” She replies, gesturing to the bottom of the white tee. Man I Love Fishing.  


Edelgard bursts out laughing, and the woman joins her. She covers her face and holds her stomach as she roars with laughter, unable to contain herself. All sense of composure and image flew out the window as she laughs with all her might, tears flowing out of her eyes.  


“Oh my goodness… that’s such an amazing shirt!” Edelgard shrieks, barely breathing through one of her fits of laughter.  


“Isn’t it?” The strange woman replies, also recovering from her laughter. “I think it’s really funny too.”  


“Has anyone else ever asked about your shirt?”  


“No, you’re the first. I’m glad you did too, you laughed so hard I was worried you would stop breathing.”  


“Oh I’m fine, I’m fine, my goodness… Man I love fishing, haha!” She snickers.  


“I’m glad you got such a kick out it.” She smiles, shifting over a chair so that she sat next to Edelgard.  


“Do you really enjoy fishing, or did you get that shirt for the joke?”  


“I do, it’s one of my favorite past times. Whenever my family gets the chance, we would go out somewhere, a lake or an ocean, and just spend the day fishing. The joke’s extra, I have a lot of shirts like these.”  


“That’s really funny.” Edelgard replies, still giggling. She flounders in her mind for something to continue the conversation as the woman settles down in her new seat, taking out her own notebook and pencil. It appears as if she had jammed multiple sheets of paper into it as some sort of makeshift folder. Creases span across the length of the sheets.  


Ready for lecture, the woman leans back into her chair and stretches. She reaches into one of her jacket pockets and pulls out a Nintendo 3DS, black and white with the symbol of Hyrule decorated at the bottom. Edelgard watches as the woman retreats into her handheld, her eyes narrowing as if the rest of the world no longer matters. She begins loading a game, and within a few seconds Pokemon Ultra Moon appears in blazing letters. A part of Edelgard did not want to disturb the woman and leave her to the comfort of her video game, but another part inexplicably wanted to speak to her even more.  


“What are you up to in Alola?” Edelgard asks, blurting it out, unsure if it sounded rude.  


The woman turns, her blue eyes staring into Edelgard in surprise as if she had spoken in a foreign language. Then, her lips part into a slight smile.  


“I’m not sure, all I do is turn it on to see my Pokemon.”  


“Really? Are you out of things to do?”  


“Yeah, I beat the game pretty fast and then wound up doing a bunch of other things.”  


“Did you get big into EV training and breeding too?”  


“Oh, of course.” The woman replies, her eyes glancing back to Edelgard’s. “I have teams all set up for whenever I want to do anything competitive, but they mostly just sit there since I don’t really look for competition.”  


“What about the Alolan Pokedex?”  


She sheepishly smiles. “I completed that, since I have games from every generation. Want to take a look?”  


Edelgard’s eyes widen. “Sure.”  


The woman opens up a few menus and reaches the Rotomdex, beginning to scroll down the long list of several hundred Pokemon. Sure enough, no empty spaces—the woman had a real deal completed Alolan Pokedex.  


“How long did it take you to do this?” Edelgard asks, in awe.  


“I don’t know; I lose track of time pretty quickly.” The woman replies simply.  


“Well either way, I think that’s really impressive. What’s your favorite Pokemon?”  


“Hmm…” The blue haired woman places a finger on her chin. “That’s a really hard question.”  


“Right? It’s hard to pick.”  


“If I really really had to choose… I think I’d pick Gliscor.”  


“Are you one of those Poison Heal Gliscors…”  


The woman’s smile turns into a sly grin. “Maybe~ What about you?”  


“Hmm…” Edelgard thinks for a moment, and briefly her mind goes to Cynthia. She really admired her as a teenager. “Well I really like Garchomp, but Bisharp is probably the other one I’d pick. I named my first Bisharp after my friend.”  


The woman laughs. “Why did you do that?”  


“Oh, because he looks a lot like Bisharp I suppose? I think you would see the resemblance if you ever meet him. His name is Hubert.”  


“Sounds like someone who would look like Bisharp.”  


Edelgard giggles. “Oh, class looks like it’s starting soon.”  


She points to an older woman walking through the door carrying a briefcase, making her way to the podium instead of the lecture hall chairs. She had white hair tied in two tails and wore a black jacket. In her other hand she skims a book as she walks.  


“We should talk again after lecture.” Edelgard suggests.  


“That sounds fun.”  


“By the way, what’s your name? You never mentioned it.”  


The woman looks at Edelgard, as though she had asked some strange question. A few seconds pass until she responds. “Byleth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The concept of this story came from an Edeleth Discord server. I wanted Edelgard and Byleth to meet and fall in love in a modern setting, and I want them both to grow as individuals in their second year at college and onward. This is my side project, but I do intend to devote lots of time to it whenever I get the chance! I think they're super cute as closet nerds who end up really close due to nerding out.


	2. Blue Skies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edelgard's first day ends but by chance she finds Byleth once again. The two strike up conversation once more and head out to dinner where Edelgard meets an old friend of hers.

Edelgard slings her backpack over her shoulder as her last lecture of the day ends. She stretches, contemplating her plans for dinner and when she returns back to her dorm. She watches as the other students make their way to the exit, and leaves after the rest of them, taking her time to make sure that she hadn’t left anything in the lecture room. The professor waves goodbye to her, and she does the same, before silently leaving.

Opening the door, the autumn wind kisses her auburn hair and pale skin. The slight chill in the breeze marks the approaching end of summer. Mentally reciting the record of her responsibilities she needed to complete this week, she makes her way to the café she always liked since she started university. She hums a few tunes and songs as she continues on her way, but a familiar sight stops her.

“Byleth?” She asks. The blue haired woman turned her head with a look of surprise until she sees Edelgard.

“Oh, hey Edelgard.” She says lazily waving from her Nintendo Switch on the bench. She still wore the ridiculous getup that she saw her in this morning.

“How have you been!” Edelgard says, her walk having a spring in her step as she slides next to her on the bench. “How did your classes go?”

“They were pretty boring, overall. Felt like the usual.”

“You didn’t like Robin?” Edelgard remembers the class they had shared at the beginning of the day.

Byleth’s eyes brighten. “Oh, she was the best one.”

“Right? She was so passionate and got very into the topic even though it was just Chapter 1. I didn’t think she would jump so quickly into the content. I’m glad I read the textbook beforehand and prepared for her.”

“She was really good. I didn’t read the textbook, but I understood everything she was saying pretty clearly.”

“She was very informative! I think I’m going to stick with her class.”

“Yeah, same. We have another lecture with her before we can’t drop out anymore, but I really liked how she taught.”

“Agreed. Have you had dinner yet?”

“No not yet.”

“Wanna get something together? I know a really great place nearby; I think you’ll like it. I’ll treat you.”

“Oh, um, sure.” Her eyes glance away for a moment. “Where are we headed?”

“It’s called Café Almyra. It’s right down the street, I’ll take you to it!”

“Mm, alright then.” Byleth says as she places her Switch back into her bag, zipping it up. She stands up, Edelgard noticing that she only stood about an inch taller than her.

“How far is it?”

“Not too far at all, promise.”

The pair make their way north towards the center of town. The campus itself remained relatively secluded in the city. Spacious grass courtyards and shady trees shield the several century old university buildings from the towering steel edifices outside. As they pass through the campus gates, bustling cars and the smell of gasoline greets them. Cars grumble by spewing exhaust as they pass and hundreds of students and adults move to and fro, up and down the sidewalks. The pair cross a street, and then make a few other turns away from the heart of the city where most of the larger corporate chains made their home. Eventually, they find a small building tucked into an alley.

The building looked somewhat rundown on the outside. Atop the main entrance, large words spell “Café Almyra,” in flashing pink letters. An expressive, spray painted coffee cup stands to the right, welcoming customers in. A similar spray painted white wyvern sits on top of the cup, breathing a wisp of fire.

“Here we are!” Edelgard announces happily. Byleth squints at the sign and spray paint with a cryptic gaze, but then giggles.

“I love the design.”

“It’s very charming, isn’t it? Come on, let’s go inside!” Edelgard takes Byleth by the hand and rushes in, opening the door. Inside, the smell of roasted coffee beans and freshly sliced paninis fill the air. The café had a semi-circular floor plan with the entrance lining on one of the sides. Bar tables line up against the windows along the perimeter of the semi-circle, while booths cover the other wall.

Near the main entrance, a man leans against the counter by a register, his head against one of his hands, deep in thought. The man has brown skin and brown hair with a fair complexion. His hair is neatly combed back and he had grown a thicker beard from when Edelgard had last seen him before the summer. His green eyes move as they see Edelgard, but he doesn’t change his posture.

“Well, look who’s back at school. I haven’t seen you in months.” The man says with a bright smile, but then his attention turns to Byleth. His eyes widen in surprise momentarily, but then shift back to normal. “Oh, who’s this?”

“Long time no see, Claude.” Edelgard replies, walking up to him, not noticing his brief change in expression. “She’s someone I met at lecture today, we started talking and I thought I would take her here.”

“Ah, hello.” Byleth says quietly.

“Hm, I see…” Claude’s eyes dart briefly between the two before landing on Edelgard again. “How’ve you been? Was your summer alright?”

“I’ve been well.” Edelgard responds. “Summer was pretty uninteresting, I would say. I ended up doing a few summer courses, and then helped out at the local library in my hometown.”

“Well, staying productive as always!”

Edelgard looks around, then behind her. “Is Hilda not with you?”

“Yeah, she has a class on Mondays around this time now. She’ll be around the other days. But, if you really want to talk, why don’t I get you guys something to eat first?” He asks, leaning onto the counter.

“I’ll have the usual.”

Claude laughs. “I guess some people really don’t change, huh.”

Edelgard shoots him a glare, twitching in annoyance.

“What’s available?” Byleth asks.

“Here’s the menu, take your time, not like you’re holding up anybody.” Claude hands her a laminated sheet of paper. A quarter of the menu covers coffee, many imported from outside the country. The remaining part of the menu has sandwiches, bread bowls, soups, salads, and even a few large beef or fish dishes only available in the evening. Edelgard watches as Byleth scans down the menu, her finger sliding past many of the options until one catches her eye.

“Can I have the broccoli and cheese bread bowl?”

“Oh, that’s what I ordered, Byleth.” Edelgard says. “It’s really good.”

“Ooooooh…” Claude whistles, his smile twisting into a smirk.

“Something the matter?” Edelgard asks, looking at him with suspicious eyes.

Claude examines Byleth and Edelgard up and down, rubbing his chin with his hand. His smirk only grows the longer he looks at them.

“Do you mind?” Edelgard briskly asks, growing uncomfortable.

Claude chuckles and heads back to the kitchen. He waves his hand to them as he walks away. “I’ll call the both of you when it’s ready!”

Edelgard huffs in annoyance, crossing her arms.

“Is he a friend of yours?” Byleth asks her.

“Yeah, something like that.” Edelgard replies. “We shared a class, and then he invited me over to his café.”

“Oh, so he owns this entire café? That’s kind of cool.”

“No, it belongs to his family. He’s the middle manager of sorts, but a lot of the time it looks like he runs things since they’re off somewhere else.”

“Do you do anything like that? You seem pretty productive.”

“Oh, me? Well…” Edelgard thinks for a moment. “Not really, no.”

“Really? Why’s that?”

“Well, I devote a lot of time to maintaining my grades. I end up not having a lot of time for other things anymore.” Edelgard says, though it was only part of the truth.

Byleth blinks, looking at her. “What would you do if you did have time though?”

Edelgard’s mind wanders to the thought of all the countless fanfictions she’s read over the years, and shakes her head, knowing she couldn’t tell her that. “Probably some extracurricular. Look for internships, participate in honor societies, things like that.”

“Is that what you want to do though?” Byleth asks. Edelgard’s heart skips a beat, unsure how to answer.

“Hmm, I see.” Byleth says simply, not missing a beat.

“Are you and Claude both trying to read me for some reason?!”

“Maybe. I just don’t think you’re that kind of person. Sorry if I was a bit intrusive though, I just want to get to know you better. I’m not the best when it comes to these things.”

“I…” Edelgard says, unsure how to reply. Had she read through her act completely?

“Sylvain, you really have to stop hitting on every woman you see. It’s been 15 years of this nonsense—oh, hello Edelgard.”

A tall blonde haired man and a red haired man walk through the doors of the café behind them. The blonde man had medium length hair for a man, though it looked somewhat unwashed and disheveled, as if he hadn’t slept or taken care of himself for a while, though the other man wasn’t better. His ginger hair was always a mess with curls sticking out from all over his scalp. The two men tower over Edelgard and Byleth, such that they both have to look up at them.

“Oh, hey Dimitri, Sylvain.” Edelgard says, turning around. “Are you getting dinner too?”

“We are, yes.” Dimitri replies.

“Long time no see Edelgard, and wow, you’re as cute as ever!” Sylvain says. Edelgard rolls her eyes.

“When will you learn that your flattery will get you nowhere?” Edelgard replies, but Sylvain had already turned his attention to Byleth.

“Oh hi there, I didn’t see you until now. Has anyone told you how beautiful you are? Maybe we could get something in town, just the two of us?”

“Goodness, what was I just saying Sylvain!” Dimitri shouts in exasperation. Edelgard looks at him with disgust.

Byleth stares up at Sylvain for a few moments, deadpan. Suddenly her arm flicks, and then her arms smack him across the cheek, loudly resounding in the mostly empty café.

“Ow!” Sylvain shouts, recoiling back in pain. Edelgard breaks her composure, giggling.

“You really deserved that, you know.” Dimitri says, sighing. “Pardon my friend for his rudeness, I’m Dimitri, Edelgard’s older brother. I imagine you’re well acquainted with her.”

“Ah, nice to meet you. Edelgard and I met each other at lecture earlier in the morning. You two are siblings then?”

“Yeah.” Edelgard says, recovering from her giggling. Sylvain holds his now red cheek with one of his hands with a sly smile. “That was a really good slap though, I couldn’t have done better myself.”

Byleth smirks. “Thank you, I guess. I can do it again for you, if you want, since you didn’t get one in.”

“I’m right here you know!” Sylvain says, conceding and holding his hands up in truce. “I get it; I won’t flirt with either of you.”

“What’s all the ruckus?” Claude asks, walking back in holding a very large plastic bag. “Ah, Sylvain, that makes sense.”

“Yes, sorry about that Claude.” Dimitri says, apologizing for his friend's behavior. 

“No worries, everyone’s out doing frat stuff anyways. Do you see anyone here at all? We’re just taking it easy tonight. You’re picking up your stuff, right?”

“Yes, thank you Claude.” Dimitri nods, picking up the bag. He carries it with only one hand, compared to Claude having to do it with both.

“I’ll get yours in a second Edelgard, take care Dimitri!” Claude says, disappearing back into the kitchen as quickly as he appeared.

“You two headed out?” Edelgard asks.

“Yeah, we’re going to play some DnD tonight at the dorm.” Sylvain says cheerfully.

“They’re already waiting for us, so we should leave. We just came here to get some food. Would you two like to come?” Dimitri asks.

Edelgard glances at Byleth, who looks unsure. She gives a wry smile to her brother. “We’ll pass; we’re still waiting for our own food. Thank you though, see you later Dimitri.”

“Bye.” He says. Sylvain opens the door for Dimitri, and the two headed off.

“They sure are loud.” Byleth huffs, shaking her head.

“It’s mostly just Sylvain. The rest of his friends are okay, for the most part.” Edelgard sighs.

“I’m back!” Claude shouts, this time bringing two smaller paper bags for the two of them. “Do you guys want anything else?”

“Do you want anything?” Edelgard asks.

“I’ll pass. Thank you though.” Edelgard nods in reply, and hands Claude her credit card. She gingerly takes the receipt from him.

“You two take care. The café is yours.” Claude says with a wave and a smile.

“Shall we find a seat?” Edelgard asks, looking to Byleth. She smiles back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the massive amount of support the Ao3 community has given me! There is a lot I want to do with this story, and I have no plans to abandon it! I am also collaborating with a close friend of mine for another FE3H Fanfiction project, so stay tuned. I hope you love these two in a modern world as much as I do. <3


End file.
